Investigation Reveals Israeli Organization Behind Secret Gaza Evacuation Flights

An Associated Press investigation discovered that an Israeli group secretly organized mystery flights that transported hundreds of Palestinians from Gaza to South Africa and Indonesia since May. The organization, Ad Kan, used a front company to hide its Israeli connections while facilitating the evacuations.

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — When a aircraft carrying approximately 150 Palestinians from Gaza touched down in South Africa last November, it caught everyone off guard.

This wasn’t an isolated incident. Beginning in May, no fewer than three aircraft loaded with Gaza inhabitants who had registered to depart the conflict-ravaged territory have arrived in Indonesia and South Africa.

An Associated Press investigation has revealed that an Israeli organization, whose leader strongly endorsed former President Donald Trump’s plan to relocate Palestinians from Gaza, is responsible for these flights. This discovery raises additional concerns about the true intentions behind evacuating hundreds of individuals from the territory.

At that time, South African Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola described the flights as having a “clear agenda to cleanse out the Palestinians out of Gaza and the West Bank.”

According to contracts, passenger manifests, text communications, financial records, and conversations with over two dozen Israelis, Palestinians and others connected to the journeys, Ad Kan — an Israeli entity established by military personnel and former intelligence operatives — operated through another organization to obscure its Israeli ties while coordinating the flights.

Multiple passengers who escaped after more than two years of catastrophic warfare that has devastated Gaza stated they were unaware of who orchestrated their departure. However, they expressed little concern about this detail, they explained, as long as they could escape.

“There was famine, and we had no options. My children were almost killed,” explained a 37-year-old Palestinian who reached South Africa in November. Like other passengers, he requested anonymity due to fears of potential retaliation. “Death and destruction was everywhere, all day, for two years, and nobody came to the rescue.”

Ad Kan maintained separation from the flights. The evacuations were coordinated by a firm called Al-Majd, which presents itself on its website as a humanitarian entity “supporting Palestinian lives” and delivering assistance to Muslim communities experiencing conflict.

Nevertheless, examining Ad Kan’s background and its founder, Gilad Ach, indicates the Israeli organization may have been motivated, at least partially, by alternative objectives.

“Ad Kan,” which translates to “enough is enough” in Hebrew, has spent years operating secretly to penetrate organizations and reveal what they claim are antisemitic or anti-Israel activities.

Ach, an Israeli combat reservist, is a West Bank settlement advocate who strongly backed Trump’s proposal last year to relocate 2 million Palestinians from Gaza.

Following Trump’s announcement of his proposal, Ach released a document outlining his implementation strategy for the “voluntary exit.” The report suggested Israel should complete Palestinian emigration from Gaza within six to eight months and work with the U.S. to secure receiving nations. It claimed the migration of all Palestinians was “entirely feasible,” that they desired to leave, and that clearing the territory of its Palestinian population served Israeli interests.

Trump subsequently withdrew his plan — which faced widespread international criticism and allegations from Palestinians, rights organizations and even the U.N. secretary-general that such a proposal could constitute “ethnic cleansing” — and stated Palestinians could stay in Gaza.

However, far-right Israeli organizations, including members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing coalition, continue advocating for Gaza’s Palestinian removal in hopes Israel could eventually resettle the region. With U.S. knowledge, Israel’s government has contacted several nations — Somaliland, South Sudan and Sudan — hoping to facilitate Gaza emigration.

Israel established the Voluntary Emigration Bureau early last year, operated by Israel’s Defense Ministry.

After the war commenced in 2023, Ach created an organization called The Israeli Reservists Generation of Victory. In a November 2024 conversation with Arutz Sheva, a religious nationalist news outlet supporting the West Bank settlement movement, Ach said the group’s message included the “emigration of our enemies.”

His organization also distributed advertisements on Israeli buses showing Trump’s portrait alongside Hebrew text reading: “Victory = Voluntary migration … This bus could be full of Gazans. Listen to Trump, let them out!”

In a conversation with right-wing publication the Jewish News Syndicate shortly after the war started, Ach said Gaza victory meant claiming part of the territory and opening borders for departures. “They lost their territory, they lost population, this is a clear victory,” he stated.

Ach refused an interview for this report and texted AP that he was proud leading organizations supporting the rights of Gaza Palestinians wanting to relocate to safer global locations, away from Hamas. He rejected South Africa’s claim that the flights aimed to cleanse Gaza and the West Bank of Palestinians. He described them as humanitarian flights and said those who departed requested assistance, with some covering partial costs.

He highlighted “profound hypocrisy,” with nations refusing to accept Palestinian refugees.

“Their continued presence in Gaza, under dire conditions, serves as a tool to pressure Israel internationally and allows Hamas to maintain its rule over this suffering population,” he stated.

Ach did not address questions about using Al-Majd to hide Israeli connections.

Critics argue such Gaza emigration isn’t voluntary after the war rendered much of the territory uninhabitable. Rights organizations also stress people must be permitted to return, and Israel has a decades-long history of complicating Palestinian returns to Gaza.

AP interviewed six Palestinians who departed Gaza via the flights.

Some reported first hearing about a company transferring people from Gaza in early 2025. Some discovered advertisements online or on social media or were directed to Al-Majd’s website by friends.

With combat ongoing and much of Gaza in ruins, some said they were uncertain of their destination. They simply wanted to escape.

Months before the aircraft arrived in Johannesburg last November, an earlier May flight transported nearly 60 Palestinians from Israel through Hungary to Indonesia and several other destinations. A second October flight carried approximately 170 people from Israel to South Africa via Kenya, according to flight organizers, tracking data and Palestinians who used the service.

The six Palestinians who spoke with AP said they paid up to $2,000 per person through bank and cryptocurrency transfers.

They said the website indicated transportation to South Africa, Indonesia, or Malaysia but provided no choice option. When flights were ready, Palestinians received messages directing them to meeting locations where buses transported them from Gaza to Israel, where they were searched and permitted to bring limited belongings aboard.

American-Israeli businessman Moti Kahana signed an August contract, shared with AP, to coordinate a flight for Ad Kan.

Kahana, who has experience evacuating people from conflict areas including Afghanistan, Ukraine and Syria, said he was contacted to help arrange transportation for over 300 Palestinians to Indonesia from Ramon airport in southern Israel. The Ad Kan contract specified his company would provide “flight rescue service” for a minimum $750,000 payment.

However, during planning, the destination changed to South Africa, he said, and his flight involvement ended.

After the second South Africa-bound flight arrived in November, the government canceled its 90-day visa exemptions for Palestinian passport holders, citing “deliberate and ongoing abuse” by Israelis connected to emigration efforts.

Kahana said Ach informed him about Ad Kan’s Al-Majd connection, describing it as operated by both Arabs and Israelis in Israel but avoiding promotion of its Israeli ties.

“It’s the same people, the same company, different names,” Kahana explained. “They have a group of Arab-speaking people that answer the phone, and they don’t want to show Israel involvement; they have like an Arab face to it.”

Kahana said Ach’s team provided him a spreadsheet listing flight passengers. The document — reviewed by AP — includes names of at least 13 people whose families confirmed they registered and paid through Al-Majd and flew to South Africa.

Al-Majd’s website claims it was established in 2010 in Germany with an east Jerusalem office, without providing an address. The company doesn’t appear in online databases for registered German charities or businesses.

It remains unclear whether Ad Kan was collaborating directly with Israel’s government, but Palestinians require Israeli permission to leave Gaza. Muayad Saidam, a Palestinian listed on the group’s website as its Gaza humanitarian project manager, told AP in a phone call to Al-Majd’s listed number that he didn’t know Ad Kan or Ach but acknowledged that Palestinian travel arrangements must be made with Israeli authorities. He refused to provide additional details.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office and COGAT, the defense agency that facilitates Palestinian departures from Gaza, declined to comment on the flights. COGAT has previously stated it permits Palestinian departures from Gaza through Israel if they possess destination country visas.

Netanyahu’s office, COGAT and Ach also refused to answer AP’s questions about whether departed Palestinians would be permitted to return.

Families who traveled to South Africa told AP they weren’t aware Israelis organized the flights but that ultimately, it didn’t matter.

“I agreed to the flight, and I didn’t know the destination,” said a Palestinian who used Al-Majd to send his wife and son to South Africa.

“All I cared about was getting my family out of Gaza and saving them.”